10 Kid & Pet-Friendly Edible Christmas Tree Ornaments

If you have young children or pets running around the house, edible tree ornaments may be the answer to keeping them safe this holiday season. Making these treats are not only just for beautifying your tree, but they can be a great family bonding time. Also they make great Christmas favors when friends & family come over. Check out the recipes below and share your edible ornament ideas with us.

1. Popcorn Balls – Follow the directions to your favorite popcorn ball recipe, wrap in cellophane and tie a ribbon around the top. Make a loop out of the ribbon to hang on the tree.

2. Dried Fruit Ring Ornaments – Materials: Dried Fruit, egg & ribbon. Thinly slice apples and pears into rings and pop them into a low oven and allow them to dry out. Once dry, you can simply tie a ribbon through the hole or you can brush egg white onto the fruit rings and sprinkle them with coarse sugar before adding the ribbon.

3. Rice Krispie Treat Ball Ornaments – Follow the recipe for the original rice krispie treats but instead of smashing them in the pan, make 3″ balls, wrap in cellophane and tie a ribbon around the top, making a loop to hang on the tree.

4. Gumdrop Ornaments – Materials: Toothpicks broke in half, Gumdrops, 2-3″ styrofoam balls & ribbon. Insert one end of a toothpick into a gumdrop and the other end into the Styrofoam ball. Repeat until the ball is covered with gumdrops. Tie the ribbon around the ball to hang it on the tree.

5. Angel Ornaments – Materials: Sugar ice-cream cone, Three-ring pretzel, Royal icing (blend 1 egg white with 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar), Colored sugar, Tootsie Pop, Life Saver and red candy heart. Using scissors, cut off 1/2 inch from the cone’s point. Ice the cone and pretzel, then roll them in colored sugar. For the head, insert the lollipop’s stick into the cone. Using the icing, affix the Life Saver to the head and the pretzel to the back of the cone. Add icing features and a candy heart.

6. Candy Glass – Materials: Cookie Cutters, Hard Candies & ribbon. For a mold, wrap the bottom and sides of a cookie cutter with foil. Set on a baking sheet and coat with cooking spray. Fill each cookie cutter with a single layer of candies. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 10 minutes, or until melted. Add sprinkles, cool for 2 minutes, then use a chopstick to poke a hole near the top for hanging. Once cool, remove from the mold and hang with a ribbon.

7. Pretzel Garland – Materials: Pretzels dipped in white chocolate & ribbon. Thread one pretzel onto the ribbon and tie the end to the pretzel. Continue weaving on pretzels until the ribbon is full. Secure the ribbon to the last pretzel and hang.

8. Life Saver Wreath – Materials: Shoestring licorice & life savers. Use scissors to cut a piece of shoestring licorice 12 to 15 inches in length. Next, carefully string on about 15 Life Savers. Gather the ends of the licorice together and tie them into a bow to form a wreath.

9. Snowball Bundles – Materials: White chocolate covered malt balls, plastic wrap & white ribbon. Cut pieces of the plastic wrap in six inch squares and lay flat on the tabletop. Place approximately a half dozen of the malted milk balls in the center, gather the edges of the plastic wrap around the candy, twisting at the top to form a pouch of milk balls. Tie a length of ribbon around the gathering to close it, leaving a good length of ribbon left trailing from one end (a total length of about 6” of ribbon should do). Loop the remaining ribbon and tie off to form a hanger for the ornament.

10. Gingerbread Men – Follow the directions to your favorite gingerbread men recipe. Poke a hole in the head before baking with a straw. When the men are completely cool, add a ribbon through the hole and hang on the tree.

If the thought of decorating your tree with edible ornaments doesn’t appeal to you, you can always just hand edible ornaments on the bottom area, where the kids and animals can reach.